Jacksonville Jaguars To Host 10 Point Underdog St. Louis Rams

NFL News - October 13th, 2009 - Written by Jimmy

In one of the least notable games on the NFL Week 6 Schedule, the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3) play host to the St. Louis Rams (0-5). This game is scheduled for 1pm EST kickoff, from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.

Both teams come into this game struggling, and trying to find a way to win. One thing that is almost certain, one team will walk away from this match with a win.

Just after it looked as if the Jacksonville Jaguars were back on track, they suffered a devastating blow at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Seahawks' QB Matt Hasselbeck torched the weak Jaguars' secondary for 241 yards and 4 touchdowns en route to a 41 - 0 win over the Jags.

The Jaguars were in a position to get back above .500, after beating division rivals Houston and Tennessee. The long trip out to Seattle must have really affected the team as they looked flat for most of the game.

The offense was stale, and what should have been a good match up for RB Maurice Jones-Drew only turned out to be good for 34 yards on 12 rushes. In the passing game, QB David Garrard went 18 for 31 good for 188 yards. Garrard did not throw any interceptions, but he did fumble the ball twice, both time recovered by Seattle. It didn't help that WR Mike Sims-Walker was suspended from the game for 'Violating Team Rules'.

The combination of an inefficient offense, along with a poor pass defense led to the Jaguars getting trounced badly.

On the other side, the St. Louis Rams have yet to taste victory in the 2009 NFL Season. Coming into this season, new head coach Steve Spagnoulo knew it was going to be difficult, but not this hard. If expectations weren't bad enough, losing your starting QB for a few games is never going to help.

Last Sunday, the St. Louis Rams hosted the Minnesota Vikings. This game wasn't a good matchup on paper and it proved not to be a good matchup on the field. After coming off a great win against the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings were licking their chops to get at the win-less Rams. The Vikings took advantage of costly turnovers inside the 10 yard line, and dealt the Rams a 38 - 10 defeat.

The Vikings defense has been one of the best so far this year, which didn't bode well for the Rams. QB Kyle Boller did look better than in previous weeks, going 20 for 31 good for 209 yards and 1 interception along with a fumble. Most Rams who touched the ball had trouble hanging on including RB Steven Jackson. Regarded as the Rams' best player, Jackson touched the ball 21 times for 84 rush yards as well as 2 receptions for 25 yards. QB Marc Bulger did make a return to this game but only threw 7 times, all completed, for 88 yards and 1 touchdown.

Defense is always going to be tough when the offense turns the ball over 4 times. When the score was 7 to 0 Minnesota, DE Jared Allen recovered his first of two fumbles, and returned it 52 yards for a score. The St. Louis rush defense faced the most dangerous RB in the league, Adrian Peterson, and held him to 69 yards on 15 carries, but did allow Peterson to find the end zone twice. Overall, the Vikings netted 373 total yards against St. Louis.

As demonstrated, both teams have much room for improvement, although St. Louis did out gain their opponent last week. Even though St. Louis had limited success, Las Vegas oddsmakers aren't buying into it.

Currently at DSI Sportsbook, one of the leading sportsbooks for NFL Week 6 Betting Lines, has the Jacksonville Jaguars giving the St. Louis Rams a total of 10 points. Generally, oddsmakers give the home team a 3 point advantage which translates into the Jaguars being a 7 point favorite on a neutral field. Both sides of the bet are charged 10% juice.

Totals in this game are a bit higher than expected. As it stands now, the over/under is at 41 1/2 points for the game.

Betting straight up can win big if betting on the Rams, as long as the Rams win. St. Louis is listed at +425 on the moneyline compared to Jacksonville at -525.

When looking at these two teams, neither one has a great defense. Both teams are much better against the run than the pass on defense, however each team's strong area is running the ball on offense.

After week 5, the Jacksonville Jaguars rush defense ranks at 18th, giving up 107.6 yards per game, while the pass defense comes in at 30th, allowing 273 yards per game through the air. It should be a break for the struggling Jaguars secondary when facing the St. Louis Rams' 27th ranked pass offense which has been good for 167.2 yards per game. With their 12th ranking rushing attack gaining 113.8 yard per game on the ground, the Ram's will rely on pounding the ball with Steven Jackson.

Before the letdown last week, Jaguars' QB David Garrard had been coming up big for Jacksonville. The Jaguars' 18th ranked pass offense will need to take advantage of the St. Louis Rams' 25th ranked pass defense. The Jaguars are currently getting 214.8 yards per game through the air, while the Rams are allowing 237.2 yards per game. Signs point to this being a good game for Garrard. With their trademark rushing attack, the Jaguars are gaining 113.2 yards per game on the ground, good enough for the 13th ranked rush offense, 1 spot behind the Rams. It will be up to Ram's 23rd ranked rush defense, which averages 125.8 yards per game on the ground, will be in charge of stopping Maurice Jones-Drew.

When comparing these teams by offensive and defensive numbers, the Las Vegas betting lines make more sense.

The lines will most likely shift as it gets closer to Sunday. In the meantime, several game prop bets, and player prop bets are sure to become available, as are 1st half, 2nd half, and quarter betting lines.

Check out the rest of the NFL Week 6 Game Previews for other matchups around the league.

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